Shift Requests & Work Type Requests

This guide covers the two self-service request screens for changing how and when someone works: Shift Requests and Work Type Requests. They work the same way, just for a different field on the employee's work information — a shift (a schedule, like "Day Shift" or "Night Shift") versus a work type (a category, like "Office" or "Remote"). Both are defined in Configuration: Work Types & Shifts.

Purpose

This answers: "I need to work differently for a while (or permanently) — how do I ask, and how does that get approved?"

Requesting a Shift or Work Type Change

• An employee (or a manager, on behalf of their team) submits a request specifying the new shift or work type, a start date, and either an end date or a mark that the change is permanent.
• A description can be added to explain the reason.
• The system blocks a new request if the employee already has an approved request overlapping the same date range — one active change request at a time per period.
• A request can be withdrawn by the employee while it's still pending (not yet approved).

Shift Reallocation (Swapping with a Colleague)

Shift Requests have a second form: instead of just requesting a new shift for yourself, you can request to reallocate — effectively swap — your shift with a specific colleague currently on that shift. This goes through two steps:

1. The colleague confirms availability. They mark themselves as available for the swap.
2. A manager or HR approves the request, same as any other shift request. Approving it moves the requesting employee onto the new shift and moves the colleague onto the requester's previous shift — both sides update together.

Approving or Rejecting

• Once submitted, a request sits as Requested until a decision is made.
• Approving it updates the employee's work information to the new shift or work type, going into effect if the request's date range covers today (or immediately, if permanent).
• Rejecting it (called "cancel" in the system) reverses any work information change and notifies the employee.
• Both employee and manager are notified at each step — submission, approval, and rejection.
• Approved requests can be handled one at a time or in bulk, across multiple selected requests at once.

What Each User Sees

Action	Employee	Reporting Manager	HR Administrator
Request their own shift or work type change	✅	✅	✅
Request a change on behalf of a subordinate	—	✅	✅
Confirm availability for a shift swap	✅ (if the colleague requesting the swap)	✅	✅
Approve or reject a request	—	✅ (their team)	✅
View every request company-wide	—	—	✅
Cancel their own still-pending request	✅	✅	✅

How Visibility Is Decided

1. Ownership. An employee always sees and can cancel their own pending requests.
2. The reporting line. A reporting manager can submit, approve, and reject requests for their team — without needing a separate permission for it.
3. Permissions. Company-wide visibility, and approving or rejecting outside one's own team, both require the relevant permission.
4. Company. Requests belong to the company of the employee's work information.

Customization Options

• Which shifts and work types are available to request from is set up in Configuration: Work Types & Shifts.
• Permanent vs. time-bound is chosen per request.

Good to Know

• These also show up on the employee's own record. Opening an individual employee from Employees has a "Shift" tab listing all of that person's shift requests, work type requests, and rotating assignments together, in one place.
• A shift swap needs both a willing colleague and a manager's sign-off — one side confirming availability doesn't finalize anything on its own.
• This is different from Rotating Shift Assign & Rotating Work Type Assign, which puts someone on an automatically-alternating pattern rather than a one-off (or open-ended) change.

Ask for the change, keep the record.